Marijuana VS Muscle

I gots a question which has been plaguing me for years but could never find a result through researching...

Lifting weights, balanced nutrition, high protien, and supplements get you to your peak,..but what if you did all that and smoked reefer too? I know it makes you sluggish and its carcinogenic by smoking but what about hormone levels? I stopped smoking a year ago but when I did smoke I felt like I was "stuck" and started to think maybe it caused Estrogen levels to rise since you know how poeple are so "PEACE MAAANNNN" when their stoned which led me to believe it was estrogen...also what else does that stuff do to hold you back from muscular potential?

Im not too experienced with hormones etc so any help from you top notch pros here at AM would be gold ona platter..thanks!

well idk if its why you're so chill when you're on it but habitual use does cause a drop in testosterone, oddly enough it actually boosts it for a while then drops it back below normal levels, idk bout its effect on bodybuilding but i doubt its a good idea

Yea I was a habitual every day for at least 2 yrs and I noticed that little by little it took away all my killer instict, and test definitely started dropping. Just a couple days off you can tell a difference. I think its one of those "too much of a good thing" kinda deal. Ive had some phenomenal workouts with it though. Guess just depends on the person. Now I just relax on the weekends

Not that it won't cause other problems but it appears that that there is no link to smoking MJ and lung cancer.

ScienceDaily (May 26, 2006) — People who smoke marijuana--even heavy, long-term marijuana users--do not appear to be at increased risk of developing lung cancer, according to a study to be presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference on May 23rd.
Marijuana smoking also did not appear to increase the risk of head and neck cancers, such as cancer of the tongue, mouth, throat, or eso****us, the study found.
The findings were a surprise to the researchers. "We expected that we would find that a history of heavy marijuana use--more than 500-1,000 uses--would increase the risk of cancer from several years to decades after exposure to marijuana," said the senior researcher, Donald Tashkin, M.D., Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in Los Angeles.
The study looked at 611 people in Los Angeles County who developed lung cancer, 601 who developed cancer of the head or neck regions, and 1,040 people without cancer who were matched on age, gender and neighborhood. The researchers used the University of Southern California Tumor Registry, which is notified as soon as a patient in Los Angeles County receives a diagnosis of cancer.
They limited the study to people under age 60. "If you were born prior to 1940, you were unlikely to be exposed to marijuana use during your teens and 20s--the time of peak marijuana use," Dr. Tashkin said. People who were exposed to marijuana use in their youth are just now getting to the age when cancer typically starts to develop, he added.
Subjects were asked about lifetime use of marijuana, tobacco and alcohol, as well as other drugs, their diet, occupation, family history of cancer and socioeconomic status. The subjects' reported use of marijuana was similar to that found in other surveys, Dr. Tashkin noted.
The heaviest smokers in the study had smoked more than 22,000 marijuana cigarettes, or joints, while moderately heavy smokers had smoked between 11,000 to 22,000 joints. Even these smokers did not have an increased risk of developing cancer. People who smoked more marijuana were not at any increased risk compared with those who smoked less marijuana or none at all.
The study found that 80% of lung cancer patients and 70% of patients with head and neck cancer had smoked tobacco, while only about half of patients with both types of cancer smoked marijuana.
There was a clear association between smoking tobacco and cancer. The study found a 20-fold increased risk of lung cancer in people who smoked two or more packs of cigarettes a day. The more tobacco a person smoked, the greater the risk of developing both lung cancer and head and neck cancers, findings that were consistent with many previous studies.
The new findings are surprising for several reasons, Dr. Tashkin said. Previous studies have shown that marijuana tar contains about 50% higher concentrations of chemicals linked to lung cancer, compared with tobacco tar, he noted. Smoking a marijuana cigarette deposits four times more tar in the lungs than smoking an equivalent amount of tobacco. "Marijuana is packed more loosely than tobacco, so there's less filtration through the rod of the cigarette, so more particles will be inhaled," Dr. Tashkin said. "And marijuana smokers typically smoke differently than tobacco smokers--they hold their breath about four times longer, allowing more time for extra fine particles to deposit in the lung."
One possible explanation for the new findings, he said, is that THC, a chemical in marijuana smoke, may encourage aging cells to die earlier and therefore be less likely to undergo cancerous transformation.
The next step, Dr. Tashkin says, is to study the DNA samples of the subjects, to see whether there are some heavy marijuana users who may be at increased risk of developing cancer if they have a genetic susceptibility for cancer.

As for whether or not it lowers test, the "studies" differ depending on the website's agenda.

Abstract
Plasma testosterone, FSH, and LH levels were obtained from 25 healthy consecutive heterosexual male marijuana smoking university students. All values were within the range of normal and the means did not differ significantly from those of 13 normal controls. These data suggest that the casual marijuana smoker (at least one time weekly with an average of 5.1 joints per week) may have plasma testosterone levels which are normal for the time of day and the laboratory.
view references (23)

I'm guessing that unless you're hardcore and stay high all the time that it probably doesn't have a significant impact on test directly. But if you're always stoned and sedentary and eating junk food, then yes your test will lower.

I gave it up because it makes my anxiety go through the roof but I would think it helped T levels because my libido is through the roof as well. NOTHING beats sex on weed. It is like a whole new definition for sex. Man I miss weed.

How can you be high and workout? I wouldn't feel like lifting a damn thing if I was stoned, let alone even being in an environment where everyone else is alert and wound up. But hey man, if you feel you get a better workout... nah I'm not gonna give you the least bit of incentive to keep doing it! It will do nothing but hinder your gains, while concurrently diminishing your thought process and memory. Give it up and I'll bet you see an improvement.

Lol its a love hate relationship. But yea man a little toke and ipod + gym used to be the combo for me, mind to muscle connection. I get some anxiety as well tho, so I have been laying off. Why cant it be all good!?!?

definitely something to be said for the mind/muscle connection, there's no way you can argue that, if you get just a little high right before hitting the gym you can certainly connect to the muscle alot more. The lack of motivation is a huge con for gym goers in my opinion. I used to smoke multiple blunts a day until about a year ago, then I went cold turkey. Cardio is next to impossible if you have lungs full of ****, and waking up is always a draaaaaaag. I'd say workout then on your off days its cool, but coming from someone that has BEEN THERE in the most extreme terms, the cons with regards to lifting outweigh the pros

I like to smoke after I workout because it helps me to eat. I couldn't imagine actually working out high. I'd probably just fall asleep on a bench. Also, no one has mentioned vaporizers, weed in food, or THC in pill form. You bypass all of the negative effects of smoke.

If you honestly believe inhaling smoke is good for your conditioning and cardio, youre mistaken.

I agree with the smoke part, and this isn't really relevant but there are ways to smoke marijuana while eliminating the vast majority of the tar. And THC is a vasodilator. It expands the capillaries in the lungs and induces very deep and productive coughs. There are no studies I've seen to give this next bit hard evidence, but I think it would be reasonable to assume that you would rid yourself of much more tar in comparison to smoking a cigarette and then coughing.

If you compete in a sport where fast reactions are involved, THC has a long half life so I cant see it being good for that either.

Realistically, do you think THC ingested a night or two nights prior to a competition requiring fast reactions is going to have a noticeable and detrimental effect on athletic performance? Typically, THC intoxication isn't going last more than 5-6 hours. After that, the desired psychoactive experience is gone replaced by a minimal amount of psychoactive metabolites.

With frequent cannabis use, such as smoking at least once a day, I would agree with you that it would decrease reaction time. But with recreation use, there simply are not enough metabolites created after a singular event of smoking cannabis to have noticeable effects of reaction time.

It will not be anything but detrimental, no matter how hard people will try to justify it.

THC has been found to promote neurogenesis and be a powerful neuroprotective antioxidant. It has a plethora of medical uses. The only thing universally detrimental about it is the tar created while smoking it, but there are several studies showing that there isn't a correlation between smoking cannabis and typical, smoking related health ailments like cancer or emphysema.

I gots a question which has been plaguing me for years but could never find a result through researching...

Lifting weights, balanced nutrition, high protien, and supplements get you to your peak,..but what if you did all that and smoked reefer too? I know it makes you sluggish and its carcinogenic by smoking but what about hormone levels? I stopped smoking a year ago but when I did smoke I felt like I was "stuck" and started to think maybe it caused Estrogen levels to rise since you know how poeple are so "PEACE MAAANNNN" when their stoned which led me to believe it was estrogen...also what else does that stuff do to hold you back from muscular potential?

Im not too experienced with hormones etc so any help from you top notch pros here at AM would be gold ona platter..thanks!

Paging "whitesnake"...

Al,
This is your area of EXPERTISE
Drop sum knowledge on 'em....p-ripping repping!

How can you be high and workout? I wouldn't feel like lifting a damn thing if I was stoned, let alone even being in an environment where everyone else is alert and wound up. But hey man, if you feel you get a better workout... nah I'm not gonna give you the least bit of incentive to keep doing it! It will do nothing but hinder your gains, while concurrently diminishing your thought process and memory. Give it up and I'll bet you see an improvement.

dude when i smok im in the zone!! nothing better than a great workout after i blaze

I agree with the smoke part, and this isn't really relevant but there are ways to smoke marijuana while eliminating the vast majority of the tar. And THC is a vasodilator. It expands the capillaries in the lungs and induces very deep and productive coughs. There are no studies I've seen to give this next bit hard evidence, but I think it would be reasonable to assume that you would rid yourself of much more tar in comparison to smoking a cigarette and then coughing.

Deep and productive coughs? Isnt that the most damaging part of inhaling smoke? Thats where it always moves to. __________ is worse than it anyways.

Realistically, do you think THC ingested a night or two nights prior to a competition requiring fast reactions is going to have a noticeable and detrimental effect on athletic performance? Typically, THC intoxication isn't going last more than 5-6 hours. After that, the desired psychoactive experience is gone replaced by a minimal amount of psychoactive metabolites.

With frequent cannabis use, such as smoking at least once a day, I would agree with you that it would decrease reaction time. But with recreation use, there simply are not enough metabolites created after a singular event of smoking cannabis to have noticeable effects of reaction time.

I think in a sport, for example, football, where a cut and you being a half step too slow can blow a touchdown run, it can impact you. In boxing, where quick jabs and reactions and thinking in the name of the game, being a 1/8th of a second too slow can have you kissing canvas. Etc.

THC has been found to promote neurogenesis and be a powerful neuroprotective antioxidant. It has a plethora of medical uses. The only thing universally detrimental about it is the tar created while smoking it, but there are several studies showing that there isn't a correlation between smoking cannabis and typical, smoking related health ailments like cancer or emphysema.

And it just so happens to **** you up. Which is why so many people want to find research to justify it. Didnt you know smoking cigs offsets parkinsons? Research can say what you want it to. Plethora meaning what. Kids in california(pathetic state in its own right) say they have "anxiety" and get it, cancer patients do it over pain meds. Inhaling tar is bad, but this is good tar, so its better for you. Right.

In the end, its justifying a habit. If marijuana didnt get you high, no one would ever be saying its good for you etc or smoking it. And with any substance that is detrimental, I think the more serious of an athlete you are, the more it will impact you. If youre the average jackoff in the gym, yeah, you probably wont notice a difference.

That's exactly the way Lomas Brown reacted to the news. Brown, a former offensive tackle who played 18 seasons and made seven Pro Bowls, did a "Cold Pizza" segment just ahead of mine. He said whoever says only about 20 percent of NFL players smoke marijuana must be smoking some himself.

Brown said at least 50 percent smoke marijuana.

Estimates of NBA marijuana use have ranged anywhere from 50 to 80 percent (at its height six or eight years ago). The word from both leagues continues to be that if you fail a marijuana test, you are stupid or dependent.

i am pretty sure no one smokes before going play a competitive football game. and certainly no one ever goes BOXING while high. wtf are you smoking?

slowness, impaired thinking/slow reactions are SHORT TERM( while you are high ) not a day after you smoke. i'm also willing to bet you have never been a full time stoner as well so you just read a bunch of ''literature'' on the matter and think you know something.

and for that last paragraph, is that supposed to be a joke? obviously the only reason why people smoke anything is to get high. MILLIONS of people are high all day long on sugar. completely zonked out and cannot function because they are in a sugar coma EVERYDAY.no one says sh**. people drink alcohol which is a lot more dangerous ( i.e. kill your liver and kidneys, high sugar/calorie intake, test production stops, dehydration/metabolism stops, etc ), and no one says s***.

if arnold can smoke weed and be the best bodybuilder on the planet, i think it is ok.

edit : MICHAEL EFFING VICK FAILED A DRUG TEST FOR WEED. i think he is a pretty good athlete too.

Now a former Heisman Trophy winner — no, his name is not Ricky Williams — makes the NFL sound like a league full of jokers, smokers and midnight tokers.

``You know how many football players are smoking weed? Everybody smokes weed out there.''

The words come from former Chicago Bears bust Rashaun Salaam, who admittedly indulged in some, ahem, herbal remedies that aren't exactly legal. Salaam told Chicago Sun-Times columnist Greg Couch that marijuana use had ``nothing to do'' with washing out as a pro, that he had bigger issues than that.

WOW I have never recieved such indepth response to this plague of a question. I have to say thanks to EVERYONE who input on this matter, It def. helps me and many of my friends to get a better understanding on 'Mary'

I recently went vaporizor to spare the extra tar and seems to keep my throat alot cleaner without having the spits every minute.

Simple anecdotal answer based on my earlier experience. I found that when I smoked at night, I had a tendency to have an extra late night meal. During that time, I made some of my best gains. Supposedly, weed can reduce test. But, I would imagine that any marginal test loss would be offset by the gains you get from the late night meal, as long as it's not doughnuts, cheetos, etc.

Deep and productive coughs? Isnt that the most damaging part of inhaling smoke?

I wasn't debating the healthiness of smoke. What I was saying was that you will expectorate more tar from yours lungs having smoked THC than from smoked nicotine. And coughs aren't damaging to your lungs, coughing is the lungs attempt to expel unwanted material from them.

Thats where it always moves to. __________ is worse than it anyways

Yes, that's where it does always move to. Smoked THC will produce more productive coughs and expel more tar from your lungs than the coughs produced from smoked cigarettes. Its biochemistry.

I think in a sport, for example, football, where a cut and you being a half step too slow can blow a touchdown run, it can impact you. In boxing, where quick jabs and reactions and thinking in the name of the game, being a 1/8th of a second too slow can have you kissing canvas. Etc.

I think the previous posters have pretty much nailed this issue.

Didnt you know smoking cigs offsets parkinsons?

Its the ACE inhibitory action of nicotine that offsets parkinsons. Not the cigarettes.

In the end, its justifying a habit. If marijuana didnt get you high, no one would ever be saying its good for you etc or smoking it.

I'm glad you know so much of the proven medical uses of marijuana. Perhaps you would like to talk to someone who has MS and tell them why they should listen to you and instead of "saying its good for them so they can get high." Or why cancer patients shouldn't smoke because it helps offset the nausea and the pain and actually allows them to eat.

Honest question here, how much do you know about THC or cannabis? How much research have you put into this to actually formulate an opinion?